Avalon Hotel, Los Angeles, United States

This Los Angeles boutique hotel - just 45 minutes from the airport - sports retro-fabulous '50s furniture (think Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi), a sexy hourglass-shaped pool and a very cool poolside restaurant. If it was good enough for Marilyn Monroe&#133;

Just 45 minutes from LAX airport, Avalon Hotel is a Beverly Hills boutique bolt-hole that sports retro-fabulous '50s furniture (think Charles Eames chairs, George Nelson lamps and tables by Isamu Noguchi), a vintage hourglass-shaped swimming pool, and a very cool, award-winning restaurant. Service is seamless, in a country where the word 'service' actually means something. The custom-made beds are big, covered in Porthault linen and very well sprung. If it was good enough for Marilyn Monroe

Packing tipsMassive sunglasses are de rigueur; an empty bag is useful for those Rodeo Drive impulse buys.

Hotel restaurantsOliverio at Avalon is an Italian trattoria-style affair, with acclaimed chef Mirko Paderno at its helm. The restaurant serves up enticing offerings such as octopus carpaccio from 7am till midnight.

Remember when sabre-toothed tigers and giant ground sloths roamed LA? Thought not. Head to The Page Museum at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits (www.tarpits.org) in Hancock Park; more than 3,000,000 ice-age fossils have been found here and the natural history museum is fascinating.

The nearby Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard (+1 323 857 6000; www.lacma.org) holds some 100,000 European, American, Islamic and Korean artworks, from costumes and 15th-century altar figures to German Expressionist masterpieces. Magritte, Rembrandt, Hokusai and Hockney are just some of the highlights.

Sign up to the bazaar newsletters now:

Please tick here if you would like to opt out of the Harper’s Bazaar Beauty Bulletin Newsletter.
Hearst: We will also let you know about discounts and great offers from us, tick this box if you'd rather not know about these.
Hearst Partners: would like to let you know about some of their fantastic discounts, special offers, and promotions. We promise you wont be bombarded. Tick here if you would like to receive these.